The NFL has been under immense scrutiny ever since several medical mishappening have taken place. Be it Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa or Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Cameron Brate, the issues have surely not landed the league on the right side of events. On top of that chief medical officer – Allen Sills just confirmed the deadly mistake committed by the league when it comes to making concussion calls.
Just like Tua, Tampa Bay Tight End – Cameron Brate also suffered a deadly blow on in his team’s loss against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. But as per the safety calls, he shouldn’t have been allowed to return but the reality was different. Brate returned to game action as his team suffered a 10-point loss against Patrick Mahomes inspired Chiefs.
So why was he allowed to return on the field? Because the guys in the NFL Medical booth thought that Cameron Brate has endured a hit on his shoulder. The situation got worse when Brate suffered from the side effects of it and was eventually taken off the field due to his concussion.
Cameron Brate’s concussion call misjudged by medical officers
“I think there was contact to the shoulder and head from what I’ve seen on the video,” Allen Sills said, per Pro Football Talk. “They [spotters] look for a blow to a head or something where there’s … forces transmitted to the head or neck area, and then they look to see if they believe that injury behavior is present, and if that injury behavior would indicate a concussion protocol — or a concussion evaluation should be done.”
“Our instructions to them are if they see anything that meets the criteria of injury behavior, that they should then call down and initiate the concussion protocol, and again to be conservative in doing so. That’s sort of our instruction, that’s my understanding of what went on. I wasn’t in the booth that night.”
The Cameron Brate incident has only gone onto highlight how casual the league’s medical team and doctors have been. With the sport being as physical as ever, this surely needs to be changed. What was even admitted by medical chief- Allen Sills.